Customer Reviews

Introduction to Counseling: An Art and Science Perspective (2nd Edition)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Nystul's "Introduction to Counseling: An Art and Science Perspective" is an excellent book for the beginning counselor either at the undergraduate level or the graduate level (we all start somewhere). I was assigned this book for my first Master's level class and it provided an excellent background into my chosen field. When I read the book, it cured a lot of questions that I had about counseling. I learned a lot of information that I either did not know or realize. Specifically, the book not only introduces the reader to counseling techniques, but also provides an overview of theoretical approaches, ethics and legal issues, assessment and diagnosis, and diversity issues. In addition, this book gives information on counseling approaches with various populations (i.e. child, group, family, school, career and mental health etc). Also, Nystul (1999) provided background information as well as practical techniques for each theory that he explained. Moreover, this book gives a superb rendition of various types of counselors and the description of duties that they perform. My favorite parts of the book are the "personal notes" where the author gives a story or example to go along with his discussion of a subject. The personal notes provide a great modality for the reader to look at a concept in a realistic or life-like manner. Most importantly, the book is organized extremely well and makes reading a lot easier than most textbooks; it utilizes pictures, diagrams, charts and etc. to get the point across in an effective and efficient manner. As a graduate student who utilized this book, I would highly recommend this book to professors, counselors and counseling students. Overall, it is an excellent source of background counseling information and for additional resources to aid in a person's development as a counselor. I almost forgot, the reason that I gave the book a 4 star rating and not a five is because general information about counseling can be quite dry reading material, it all depends on the individual reading it. Nonetheless, as mentioned previously, the author uses various techniques to help the reader absorb the necessary material (to become a counselor) in the most painless manner. Thus, the book gets my 4 stars.

Good but not fully described. The class key to the book was not attached with the "New in package book", I was disappointed with the lack of clarity.

I received the book but it turned out to be the exam copy. But they fixed the issue by providing some sort of credit.

I recieved the order in due time. The product was shipped without any damage. I am always pleased when I buy from Amazon.com

I got the book it about a week from the day I ordered it and the seller even took the time to email when once the book was sent. The book was in great condition. I was very happy and would for sure buy for this seller again!

interesting, easy read, well organized and pretty informative. i prefer corey's book on counseling and pyschotherapy, but this one is a good 2nd.

Easy to understand, well written book.

Quisinequeen, Oregon

As a graduate student, I am completely disappointed in this book being used to teach a 500 level class. This is the 4th Edition, and yet it is absolutely riddled with grammatical errors. There are incomplete sentences, missing words, incorrect uses of commas, and improper verb tenses throughout the entire text. Nystul also contradicts himself in many places, relies too heavily on his own research for supporting evidence, and includes an overabundance of personal notes, many of which are irrelevant to students going into a Master's level counseling program as opposed to a Ph.D psychology program. This is by far the worst textbook I have ever dealt with as a graduate student.

I agree with a previous review that stated Corey wrote a better book that outlines theories of counseling...the Corey book is great compared to Nystul. This book just wasn't interesting, it didn't explain things in much detail, it was just very dissappointing. I found myself referring to other textbooks (such as Corey) for better information, and that is unacceptable.

Seller violated terms of shipping, didn't ship himself as advertised from CA but contracted with another seller in NY. Shipped 5 days after deadline. Result 3 week delay from order to receipt of college course book.